Karoly heirs question costs to manage estates (PA)

March 7, 2015

Four nephews and a niece who will share what’s left of lawyer Peter J. Karoly and wife Dr. Lauren Angstadt’s estates filed court papers Friday objecting to more than $2.3 million in fees and payments taken from the couple’s assets.

The papers, filed in Northampton County Orphans’ Court on behalf of Gregory Azar, John P. Karoly III, Jason Azar and Joshua E. Karoly seek documents and invoices to back up the costs claimed by the estates’ administrators. Niece Alexa Karoly’s request to join in the objections was granted in a hearing Friday.

The objections question more than 100 individual payments to lawyers, accountants, auctioneers and “cash infusions” for businesses owned by the estates. They also seek explanations for the sale of homes, commercial real estate and other property at a combined loss of nearly $1.9 million.

The costs are claimed by attorneys Thomas A. Wallitsch and Harry Newman, both of Allentown, who were appointed to manage the estates during an epic seven-year legal battle. Members of one of the Lehigh Valley’s most prominent families fought over the wills of Karoly and Angstadt, who died in a plane crash in 2007, with Karoly’s sisters claiming unsuccessfully that the couple’s 2006 wills were forgeries.

A state appeals court last year upheld an orphans’ court decision that the sisters failed to prove the wills submitted by their brother, disgraced South Whitehall Township attorney John P. Karoly Jr., were forgeries.

Even with staggering administrative and legal expenses, Karoly’s legacy remains worth $5.22 million today, and Angstadt’s is worth $4.93 million, according to accountings filed in December by the administrators.

Attorney Robert Goldman, who represents three of the nephews, said the accounts do not include any supporting information. The court papers filed Friday say that requests for detailed invoices and other information were rebuffed.

“All we see is money that’s gone out without explanations for these expenditures,” Goldman said.

The documents the beneficiaries are seeking will help them understand whether the costs are justified and whether any money should be returned to the estate. If the costs are found to be excessive, how much money needs to be returned would ultimately be decided by a judge, Goldman said.

Calls to Wallitsch’s and Newman’s offices Friday were not immediately returned.

Among the payments flagged in the objections are $716,940 in legal fees for the administration of Karoly’s estate and $378,373 for the administration of Angstadt’s estate. The beneficiaries also question why many of the properties the couple owned were maintained for seven years rather than being sold.

Karoly, 53, was known as a prominent medical malpractice attorney and entrepreneur with stakes in a number of medical imaging and technology companies. Angstadt, 54, was an Allentown dentist. The couple had been married for 22 years when their single-engine turboprop crashed short of the runway in New Bedford, Mass.

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Estate of Denial® provides news, analysis and commentary on abusive probate practices and via wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney. We provide perspective to educate the public regarding this and other growing threats to both individual freedoms and property rights.